ETG Alcohol Testing -- Cutoff Levels

Asked Dec 13, 2011, 06:16 AM
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7 Answers

Greetings. I'm working on a paper regarding drug and alcohol testing and got a little confused on the math (not for a science class obviously!). I was wondering if anyone could help me clarify one small point using the ETG test as an example.

Greetings. I'm working on a paper regarding drug and alcohol testing and got a little confused on the math (not for a science class obviously!). I was wondering if anyone could help me clarify one small point using the ETG test as an example.

Thanks Dr. Bill -- so theoretically, a 500 cutoff would (a) be less susceptible to false positives and (b) lessen the length of detectible time from the consumption of alcohol.

That is correct. 500 cutoff detects about 25% less (range 23-40) based on review of past test results. The time span hasn't been quantified but a guess can be made from some of the studies that have elimination graphs.

As to false positives the reduction is small and inadequate. Arizona for instance requires a cutoff of 2000.

Thanks Dr. Bill -- and thanks for answering all of these questions. Looks like you're helping a lot of people out in an area that's quite nebulous! I wonder why they haven't done more studies on this in recent years as it would seem to me that a lot of people might be losing employment, kids, freedom, etc. with a test that might not have been fully vetted, especially when there is such a wide range of time frame, no standard cutoff level and with the aggressive "80 hour" marketing programs of the testing services.

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